Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $3,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,231,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 50,072.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 804,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,938,000 after purchasing an additional 803,166 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,166,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $782,109,000 after purchasing an additional 318,891 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Caterpillar by 4,018.6% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 255,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,874,000 after buying an additional 249,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 36,168.5% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,361,000 after buying an additional 226,415 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $338.50 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $361.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $372.69. The company has a market capitalization of $161.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $307.05 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. On average, analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.